Tatooine: Planet of the Dead
by NatashAZ77
Summary: This is my first story!   Set a couple of years before ANH the Emperor Palpatine has had a virus created, in order to test it the emperor has chosen Tatooine for the job. Tatooine inhabitants unknowingly will find themselves in a zombie invested world.
1. Chapter 1

All characters and anything star wars related belong to George Lucas

This is set a couple of years before ANH. Also this is my first story so please try not to be too harsh! Thanks, hope you enjoy I will try to upload as often as I can.

…

"What is thy bidding my master?" Vader said kneeling in front of the emperor's throne.

"Lord Vader my scientists have perfected the virus, and now we need to test" the emperor stated coolly "Do you have any suggestions?"

"No my master" Vader replied

The emperor stood up from his chair and slowly walked down the stairs to stand in front of Lord Vader.

"You may rise"

Vader rose to stand in front of the emperor.

"I have a suggestion for where the virus should be tested, I have chosen Tatooine"

Vader stiffened slightly but did not say a word

"I know that you despise the slave trade and that is where the main trade is running today, am I right Lord Vader?"

"Yes my master" Vader was fuming inside; he hated it when he was a slave and hated the slave masters immensely, but did not feel that the slaves should have to suffer. "What of the slaves?"

"They will most likely die from the virus" the emperor glared down at Vader "Is that a problem Lord Vader?"

"No my master" Vader replied bowing his head

"Good, we will be arriving to Tatooine soon; I want you to make sure that the virus is sent down immediately along with surveillance"

"Yes my master, it will be done"

"Good see to it then" the emperor said while waving his hands in a shooing fashion in front of Vader before turning around heading back up the stairs.

Vader nodded and turned leaving the emperor alone to his throne.

The emperor sat down and smiled to himself he could feel the anger rolling off his apprentice, it was so invigorating.

…

Lord Vader strode down the ships corridor swiftly toward the hanger bay; he had just been notified that they were orbiting Tatooine. He had already ordered the group of scientists to meet him on the deck, and that the surveillance droids be ready.

Entering the hanger bay Lord Vader was curious to see at least 30 rebels that he thought they had already interrogated and killed within the last three months lying on stretchers. Upon further examination some of them seemed to be rotting, as he got closer he could see some of the rebel's skin falling off their bones.

Lord Vader noticed one of the scientists injecting one of the fresher subjects with some sort of vaccine. The scientist looked up and smiled, Lord Vader stood in front of him and spoke.

"Is the virus ready to be shipped out?"

"Oh, yes my lord that was the last one" he said indicating the dead rebel he had just injected.

"This is the virus?" Lord Vader questioned

"Yes my lord, the virus is in these dead rebels" when the dark lord did not respond the scientist continued "the rebels are the virus, the virus kills its victims and reanimates them to do the emperors bidding"

"And what is his bidding?" Lord Vader continued

The scientist was smiling down at his dead rebel. Looking back up at Lord Vader

"It's amazing really, we won't have to use any more living people to fight this war anymore, because once these rebels" the doctor waved his hand indicating the 30 dead rebels in front of him "attack the living, that is they have to bite, or scratch them then those people in turn will become the emperors dead soldiers"

Lord Vader was horrified, what a sick thing to do, to use dead people as soldiers. Only the emperor would think of such a thing, Vader thought.

"If you are ready?" Vader said impatiently just wanting this ordeal to end quickly.

"Yes, we are"

The scientist looked back at the other scientists and ordered them back while he pressed a button on his pad and each of the stretchers formed semi-translucent shields. Pressing another button each of the stretchers zoomed out of the hanger bay and into space traveling to Tatooine.

"The surveillance droids!" a tech officer yelled to a couple of techs who had prepared several droids for the mission. Pressing a few buttons on each of the droids they all took off after the "virus" towards Tatooine.

Vader watched as the virus and the surveillance droids quickly disappeared out of the hanger bay. He sighed to himself and thought of his mother and his time on Tatooine. About the Lars his step father who was probably dead by now, and his step brother. Were they down their? Vader growled at himself, why am I thinking like this? He barely knew the Lars, sure they treated his mother kindly, but then they had given up on her when she was kidnapped by those wretched sandpeople. Now there's one species he was glad the virus would kill. Satisfied with the way his thoughts were going Vader nodded to the crew and made his way back to his suite, having a slightly sinking suspicion that something or someone to him was important down there on Tatooine.

…

The twin suns burned brightly down on top of Owens head. He was frustrated with his young nephew, irritated that he had to call his name over and over again to no avail.

"Luke!" Uncle Owen yelled for the third time "where the hell is that boy?" Owen growled to himself storming down the stairs into his home

"Luke! Damn it boy you better answer me!" Owen yelled again as he turned in to see his wife Beru in the kitchen making dinner.

Beru looked up at him and raised her eyebrows "Did you check the garage?"

"No, but I have been calling him for awhile, what the hell is he doing that's so damn important, that he can't even answer me" Owen growled again as he turned and walked out of the kitchen and headed to the garage.

Beru shook her head; Luke always found a way to get under his uncle's skin, even if it wasn't intentional.

Beru sighed and turned back to cooking dinner.

Owen walked out of the homestead and started for the garage

"Boy are you in there?" Owen yelled

"Yeah there's a boy in here" yelled back a young voice

Owen walked into the garage to see speeder parts everywhere, and a large oil spot forming on the sandy floor. Looking on Owen could see a mop of sandy blonde hair pop up from under a half put together speeder. Owen always wondered how Luke could fix anything or build anything for that matter. Shaking away the thought Owen looked at Luke sternly.

"I have been calling you all day" he said angrily

Luke looked at him and gave him a crooked smile "Not all day, I would have heard you then"

"Alright smart ass, I need your help get up and meet me outside, we need to fix the perimeter before nightfall, then you can come back and clean this mess" Owen said while indicating the large oil stain.

Luke smiled sheepishly before replying a "Yes sir" and getting up quickly to follow his uncle out the house

…...

Luke and his uncle had almost finished with the last of the repairs when Luke spotted someone coming toward them.

Luke impatiently taped his uncle who looked up at him annoyed

"What is it Luke?"

"There's someone coming"

Uncle Owen stopped his work immediately and looked to where Luke was pointing, getting up he walked over to the speeder and grabbed out the binoculars.

"Well?" Luke asked impatiently bouncing up and down on his heels

"He's human alright, but something's wrong with him…he's hurt maybe, I don't know" Owen muttered the last part before handing the binoculars over to Luke who grabbed them eagerly.

Luke peered through the binoculars to get a glimpse of the intruder. It was a person alright, and he definitely looked hurt, the human was walking funny and Luke could see the man twitching slightly.

"How did he survive this far into the desert, with no supplies?" Luke said out loud

"Don't know seems strange though"

Luke nodded

Owen went back to fixing the last part of their perimeter system, while Luke continued to look through the binoculars

"We should help him"

"No" Owen said "Last thing….and done" Owen got up and grabbed the binoculars from Luke who was looking at his uncle.

"Why? He obviously needs help, at least something to…."

Owen cut him off holding his hand up in front of him

"No Luke, we don't even know if he does need help, we don't know him, there's no reason for you or me to risk our lives for someone we don't even know"

Luke shook his head

"Unbelievable, what if it was you or Aunt Beru in a situation like that?"

"We never would be, now quit arguing and let's go before your aunt gets worried, the suns are about to set"

Luke looked over to see Tatooine 1 and 2 beginning to set darkening the sky into an array of reds, oranges, purples, and blues all jumbled together to make the last of the day's sunset.

Luke looked back at his uncle and stubbornly planted his feet firmly to the ground and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"It's not dark yet, we have at least 30 minutes or so!"

"Luke, I don't care how old you are, or what you think for that matter on this topic, but under my roof you do as I tell you and I say get your ass in the speeder now" Owen said menacingly

Luke faltered for a moment, wanting to comment that he wasn't under his roof at the moment but instead he added "Can I at least give him the rest of my water and directions to one of the safe houses?"

Luke knew that the desert was dangerous at night, and he didn't want anybody to be caught out in it. That was one of the reasons there were many safe houses that were built out in the desert years ago by the first settlers to keep unfortunate travelers safe from the unforgiving desert. The shelters also had medical, food, and limited water supplies for its travelers in need. Luke stared at his uncle waiting for an answer

"Come on uncle it's my water, and we only have so much time before it gets dark" Luke pleaded

Owen defeated slumped his shoulders looked back at Luke and nodded. Luke grinned and grabbed the rest of his water and ran out to meet the stranger walking toward them. Owen shook his head, that boy always wanting to do what's best, some day it will kill him. Owen got into the speeder and waited for Luke, pulling out a farmer's almanac he kept in the glove compartment he opened it and continued to read about the newest vaporators coming out.

…

Luke had slowed down as he neared the man

"Hi, sir I thought that you might want some water and a place to…"

As Luke approached the man a fowl stench filled his nostrils. Choking from the stench Luke self consciously took a step back from the man. He was at least 20 feet from him and the smell was horrible. Covering his face with his hand Luke looked up and gasped.

The approaching man wore tattered clothes and as he looked closer he could see that through his clothes the man had numerous holes in his stomach and chest, in fact the man looked dead.

"umm…Sir are you ok?" Luke asked unsure if he should continue with the conversation. He had a bad feeling about the approaching man.

The man approaching suddenly started to pick up the pace, moaning loudly as it came closer to Luke. Luke could clearly see that the man seemed to be dragging his feet across the sand making a strange scraping noise. Now the stench was unbearable Luke felt his stomach turn making him feel queasy. The man was now only a couple of feet from Luke, its arms stretched out in front of it growling.

Luke backed up putting his hands in front of him

"Wow, guy just calm down I'm here to help you" he held the water out to the guy expecting the man to grab it but instead the man roughly grabbed Luke's arm

"Hey!" Luke yelled trying to push the man off of him, but to his horror the man was pulling him closer and trying to bite him. Luke moved his hand from over his face and used it to push back the man's head away from him he then unsuccessfully tried to wrench his arm free, but the man had a solid hold on him.

"Get off!" Luke yelled at the man that was continuing to growl and snap its jaws up and down trying to get at him.

"Uncle Owen!" Luke yelled not wanting to look away from his attacker.

Owen snapped his head up looking to where Luke had cried out to him and to his horror he saw Luke fighting the man off of him. Owen threw down his magazine and quickly started up his speeder and sped over to where Luke was struggling for his life. Reaching Luke Owen jumped out of the speeder grabbing his rifle as he made his way quickly over to Luke.

"What the hell is going on? Get the hell off my nephew!" Owen yelled as he pointed his rifle at the man, and almost stumbled over himself from the terrible stench that came off the man attacking his nephew.

Luke was still holding the things head back trying to prevent it from biting him, his arm was getting tired but he had no intention of letting this man thing bite him

"I don't know he's crazy!" Luke yelled "Aaahhh!" Luke's frustrated scream came out when the thing had grabbed his arm that was holding the man's head away from him, pulling Luke closer. Luke had tried to pull his other arm free but it was stuck in another iron grip. The thing had started to snap toward his face Luke leaned as far away as he could from the man, his teeth inches away from his cheek. Luke choked on the stench that came out of its mouth. Luke gritted his teeth and continued to try and pry his arms out of the strangers grasp.

"Get out of the way Luke!" Owen yelled at him

"I can't!"

Owen went to the side of Luke and the thing that held him, and aimed for the man's arm and shot.

The laser bolt made a sizzling sound as it went through the strangers arm, but the stranger didn't seem to notice its full attention was on its prey Luke, attacking mercilessly.

"Hurry Uncle" Luke cried frantically still leaning as far away from the strangers snapping jaws.

Owen just stared at the thing that held his nephew, how in the hell did that not do anything? He thought to himself. Aiming again Owen fired at the man's side; nothing happened frustrated Owen aimed again firing several times.

The thing let go of one of Luke's arms before falling down and pulling Luke with him.

"Aaaahhh" Luke screamed as he was pulled on top of the man. The thing continued to snap its jaws at Luke trying to get a bite out of him. Luke struggled to his feet awkwardly trying to keep the thing from biting him and trying to pry his arm from the things iron vice grip. Putting one of his boots on the stranger's chest Luke Yanked back hard, Luke heard a loud pop and a burning pain accompanied his shoulder as he tumbled backward out of the strangers grip.

Owen quickly ran and helped Luke up, stunned at what had just happened

"How in the hell is this thing still alive?"

Luke groaned as he rubbed his arm, looking back at the thing that was growling loudly and getting to his feet.

"Come on Luke" Owen yelled as he grabbed his nephews arm and pulled him toward the speeder.

Luke gasped as his uncle grabbed his arm and dragged him to the speeder, letting go of Luke's arm Owen ran around to the driver's side and Jumped into the speeder Luke did likewise. When they were both in the speeder Owen sped away from the thing that had attacked his nephew. Luke looked behind him he could barely see the man that had attacked him, but from what he could see, it looked like it was following them.


	2. Chapter 2

Reaching the homestead Owen leaped out of the speeder followed by a slower moving Luke. The two made their way down into the homestead

Beru looked up from the kitchen table a worried Look etched on her face standing up she made her way back in the kitchen her hand on her hip

"What took you? Dinner has been on the kitchen table for over 10 minutes!"

Owen ignored her and quickly went to put in the perimeter codes. Luke walked slowly into the kitchen behind him, swaying slightly as he did.

"Luke, what happened?" Beru said hurrying over to her nephew.

Luke's forehead had beads of sweat on it and his left arm was dangling by his side.

Beru stood in front of Luke her hand immediately going to his forehead

"Your burning up" Beru looked over at Owen "What happened?"

"Luke was attacked by some guy out in the dessert" turning to Luke Owen added "I told you to leave it alone didn't I?"

Luke just nodded feeling extremely tired all of a sudden he leaned against the wall taking in deep breaths, looking back to his uncle he added.

"You don't think it got in the perimeter before we had time to turn it on, do you?"

Owen stared at Luke then back at Beru who looked at him fearful

"I think we made it before he could, that…that thing was slow"

"It was so strong though, I…I couldn't get it off me, I pulled so hard I think I pulled my arm out of its socket" Luke said slightly moving his head toward his left arm dangling by his side.

Owen turned around and grabbed a towel that was hanging on the wall next to the sink.

"Bite down on this, and I'll put your arm back in your socket"

Luke looked up fear written all over his face

Beru gasped turning to Owen

"We should take him to the med center"

"No, we can't afford that right now and it's already dark"

"Owen!" Beru yelled

Owen grabbed Beru lightly by the shoulders so they were looking at each other in the face.

"Beru, please I can do this, we don't need a doctor, all the doctor would do is the same thing I would" Owen said trying to reassure Beru that it was better if he did it.

Beru searched Owens face then nodded, looking back at Luke who looked at the two terrified

"Luke I need you to bite down on this towel" Owen said handing the towel to Luke.

Luke didn't take it he just stared at Owen

"Is it going to hurt?" he asked quietly

Owen looked at his nephew nodding his head and holding out the towel to Luke

Luke took the towel rolled it up and put it in his mouth biting down on it waiting for his uncle to put his arm back in his socket

"Ok here we go Luke"

Beru covered her mouth and Luke closed his eyes

Owen walked over to Luke's side with the bad arm grabbed it and in one swift move Owen put Luke's arm back in his socket.

Luke's eyes flew open and he bit down hard on the towel tears welled up in his eyes and slid down his cheeks.

"It's done Luke"

Luke shakily took the towel out of his mouth and wiped the tears from his cheeks; he moved his left arm and winced.

"It's going to be sore for a couple of days" Owen said putting his hand on Luke's shoulder.

Beru had uncovered her face and stared at Luke who was starting to sway slightly. Beru gently grabbed Luke's good arm and was going to lead him down the hallway until she noticed blood on Luke's torn sleeve.

"Luke you're bleeding"

Luke glanced down to where he aunt was looking at

"Oh" was all he could say

Beru moved up Luke's sleeve and looked at it more closely

"It's a deep scratch" she said mostly to herself. Owen was now looking at Luke's scratch glancing back at Beru he added

"It's not that bad"

Beru glared up at him before moving passed him to get a bacta patch.

Luke closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, he felt as though he was going to throw up.

"I don't feel well, I'm going to go lay down" he mumbled as he made his way past his uncle

"Wait" his aunt called behind him

Luke stopped and his aunt put the bacta patch over his arm.

"Your burning up Luke" Beru said worriedly "Go to bed I'll be in to look after you in a moment"

Luke nodded and made his way out of the kitchen and to his room.

Beru turned around to stare at her husband

"What happened?"

"I already told you"

Beru stared at her husband than turned around facing where Luke had just left.

"Get something to eat Owen; I'm going to go check on Luke"

…...

Owen and Beru had gone to bed early after checking on Luke and clearing the table of dinner.

Little did they know of the creeping figure moving slowly toward their home.

Beru woke up from a loud banging noise coming from above, turning over to a snoring Owen Beru shook him awake

"Wh…What?" Owen said sleepily

"Owen something is outside"

"What" Owen said again staring blurry eyed at Beru

"Listen"

Owen listened closely and heard a sharp banging coming from outside. Throwing off the blankets Owen Jumped up from the bed and quickly threw on some pants.

"Stay here" Owen ordered Beru as he ran out of the room.

Creeping out into the open of his homestead toward the kitchen Owen could hear the banging even louder slowly walking into the kitchen Owen grabbed his rifle that he had left next to the kitchen door and cheeped up the stairs toward the front door. As he neared the door the banging was deafening, Owen drew a deep breath readied his rifle and pressed the door release.

"Who's there?"

Owen called out but gasped as soon as he saw the same stranger that had attacked his nephew earlier. The stranger growled and grabbed Owens arm, Owen aimed his rifle and started shooting hoping that this time the shots would kill the intruder.

The intruder was stopped momentarily before growling even louder and biting into Owens arm.

"Aaahhh" Owen screamed he could feel the flesh of his arm being ripped off of him before being bit again and again.

Beru hearing the screams jumped out of the bed and ran into the kitchen, as soon as she entered a terrible stench greeted her nose before she looked up to find Owen being bitten by something in the doorway; Beru screamed and ran towards her husband to help.

"Owen!" Beru yelled

"Beru stay back!" Owen yelled trying to get the intruder off of him, his rifle clattering to the ground. Beru stared down at the rifle and then back at her struggling husband deciding quickly she ran over to the rifle picking it up Beru aimed at the things head firing.

The thing fell over lifelessly onto Owen making Owen fall backwards down the stairs.

Beru jumped out of the way

"Owen" she yelled trying to get the corpse off of her husband. Owen grunted and pushed the corpse off of him. Beru gagged but helped her husband to his feet, noticing the large bite marks all over his arm that were bleeding profusely. Beru ran into the kitchen and grabbed a clean towel, rushing back to her husband holding the towel over his bite wounds.

"There's so much blood!" Beru cried

Owen pushed her hand off of his arm and held the towel over it

"Get the door" Owen muttered

Beru moved away from tending Owen and closed the front door, going back to Owen Beru shakily asked

"Are you ok?"

Owen took a deep breath and nodded

"We need to take you to the med center" Beru was saying

"No" Owen said shaking his head

"Don't you no, me Owen, you saw that…that thing that attacked you it was the same that attacked Luke wasn't it?"

Owen nodded

"I'm going to check on Luke then you and I are going to the med center"

Beru said as she turned away from her husband and rushed out of the kitchen glad to be away from the terrible stench that came from the corpse. Rushing out into the open area of their home Beru ran across and up the stairs to Luke's room. Beru pushed the door release button and walked into the room to find her nephew lying silently on the bed. Beru crept quietly over to her nephew touching his head Beru sighed in relief Luke's forehead wasn't as warm as it had been a few hours ago. Luke stirred under Beru's touch mumbling something about zombies. Beru took her hand off of Luke's head and peeled back the bacta patch she had put on his deep scratch, peeling it back she was surprised to see only a tiny scar where the scratch had been. Pulling off the patch Beru pushed Luke's hair out of his face and kissed his forehead. Turning around she headed for the door.

"No, Aunt Beru don't leave" Luke mumbled in his sleep

Beru turned to look at her nephew, and smiled even though he was a teenager he still needed her.

"It's ok Luke I'll be back" she whispered before turning and leaving through the door closing it behind her.

Taking a deep breath outside of Luke's room Beru ran down the stairs and back to the kitchen where she had left Owen.

Running into the kitchen Beru yelled "Owen!"

Beru looked around and saw the corpse a large puddle of blood but no Owen anywhere. Beru covered her nose with her hand trying to keep the stench from creeping into her nostrils, stepping over the blood Beru quickly made her way down the hallway following the blood trail.

"Owen"

No answer, Beru crept slowly down the hallway stopping in front of her bedroom door she took a deep breath.

"Owen" she called again stepping into her bedroom she spotted him standing in front of the wall

Walking closer she whispered her husband's name.

Owen again didn't say anything.

Beru stood behind her husband now feeling suddenly scared the light coming from the small window above their bed giving an eerie glow to the furniture in the dark room.

Beru reached her hand out and put it on Owens shoulder. Owen turned around quickly.

Beru screamed at the sight of her husband, his eyes were lifeless, and he was deathly pale.

Owen growled at her reaching out to grab her but managing to only graze his finger nails over her wrist scratching into her.

Beru screamed and moved her hand quickly away; turning around Beru ran out of the room with a screeching growling Owen behind her.

Panicking Beru ran across the open area in her home and up the stairs opposite of Luke's room into the storage room. Opening the door quickly Beru jumped inside the room and pushed the doors button to close it behind her.

Beru backed up away from the door listening intently to any sounds outside of the door. Suddenly the banging started Beru jumped screaming at the door

"Leave me alone!"

The banging continued along with growling noises.

Beru stepped away from the door shaking she slowly lowered herself to the floor folding her knees into her chest she held them rocking herself back and forth staring at the door, hoping that Luke stayed asleep and the thing outside the door would leave. That was not her husband, she told herself shaking her head.


	3. Chapter 3

The light streamed through the small window above Luke's bed throwing light across his face. Luke stirred and opened his eyes, yawning and stretching his arms he winced from the pain in his left shoulder. Luke got up from his bed and made his way over to his closet, looking down at himself he realized that he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday. Frowning he looked to where he had gotten scratched by that thing and realized that the bacta patch was missing and all that was left behind was a small scar. Luke looked at it curiously and smiled to himself, shaking his head in amusement.

Last night he had been plagued with nightmares about zombies and that he had become one from the scratch that he had gotten from yesterday. He had become a zombie and had killed his aunt and uncle. Luke shivered at the thought, and grabbed a new set of clothes. Luke carefully dressed himself making sure not to irritate his shoulder too much. Finally dressed Luke picked up his clothes from yesterday pausing to look at the tear in his sleeve he shuddered remembering the man or thing for better words that had attacked him, laughing out loud Luke shook his head and to think it was a zombie.

Luke wadded his dirty clothes up in a ball and flung them into the basket next to his door. Luke looked at his bed and thought about making it but decided against it, maybe they would let him off the hook for a couple of days since his arm was still messed up, besides Uncle Owen hadn't woke him up this morning to clean up his mess in the garage, so maybe he could get away with it.

Smiling to himself Luke opened his door and walked out into the morning light. The sun was already beating down on the homestead making it already hot. Luke walked down the stairs and headed across the homestead to the kitchen. Walking toward the kitchen Luke almost choked on the stench seeping out of it covering his nose quickly with his hand Luke cautiously walked into the kitchen. Peering into the kitchen Luke gasped, lying in front of him on the bottom of the stairs lay the thing that had attacked him from yesterday and next to the now corpse was a giant puddle of blood and his uncle's rifle. Luke cautiously edged his way over to the rifle grabbing it up quickly he examined the corpse noticing a hole in the corpses head. After examining the corpse Luke edged away from it and followed the blood trail down the hallway.

Luke's heart was pounding in his chest as he made his way to his aunt and uncle's room hoping that they were ok, and that this was all in his imagination. Stepping into the room Luke called out quietly for his aunt and uncle.

"Uncle Owen? Aunt Beru?" Luke almost whispered

No one answered.

Luke walked over to where there was another spot of blood, kneeling he reached out to touch it but thought better of it. Getting back to his feet Luke turned away from the spot and walked back out of the room making sure to check the fresher down the hall. Not finding anyone, Luke moved down the hallway making sure to cover his nose up from the stench in the entrance way he moved out into the middle of the homestead.

"Uncle Owen? Aunt Beru?" He called out louder this time

Again no one answered.

…...

Beru heard Luke call for her and Owen, not wanting Owen to go after her nephew she stood up and walked back to the door where Owen had been beating on a moment ago.

Taking in a shaky breath Beru stood up and slowly walked to the door, pressing the door release button Beru tensed.

The door flew open to reveal Owen who had turned around when Luke had called out their names. Turning back around after hearing the door slide open Owen growled and outstretched his arms toward Beru once again.

Beru held in her scream not wanting to attract her nephew and closed the door. The banging and scraping started again.

…

Luke was about to walk toward the garage when he heard a banging sound coming from his right. Hope swelled in Luke as he ran toward the sound thinking that it was his uncle and aunt and that they had holed themselves up in the storage room.

Luke made it to the stairs and was about to go up them when he heard a familiar grunting and growling noise from above. Luke looked up to see his uncle pounding and scraping his nails on the door. Luke noticed that his uncle's fingernails had come off and there was blood all over the door where he was trying to break in.

Luke was horrified

"Uncle Owen?" Luke said questioningly

His uncle had stopped pounding on the door and turned around to face him. Luke took in his uncle's sight his clothes were torn and he could see his uncles flesh and bone through his torn sleeve. His uncle growled at him and started towards him tumbling down the stairs and landing on his face. Luke jumped back and aimed his rifle at his uncle, but didn't shoot.

His uncle got up from the ground his face now a mess of sand and torn flesh started toward Luke again. Reaching for Luke Owen made a strange kind of screeching noise. Luke gagged from the stench rolling off his uncle, and aimed his rifle at him, backing away in the process.

"Uncle Owen stay away your not yourself" and Luke could see it clearly he was not himself; as much as Luke wanted to deny it he knew that his uncle was a walking corpse.

"Please" Luke pleaded to his uncle who seemed to not notice as he kept his pursuit on Luke. Luke stopped backing himself up to the center of the homestead. His uncle was now in front of him, his empty eyes staring straight through Luke. Luke took his hand away from his nose and put his rifle to his uncle's head.

Owen was snapping his jaws fiercely trying to get a good bite out of Luke. Luke shoved him back with the rifle. Tears streaming down his face, Luke looked into his uncle's eyes and knew that his uncle wasn't there anymore.

"I'm so sorry" Luke said quietly as he aimed the rifle at his uncle's head closing his eyes he pulled the trigger.

Luke heard his uncle's lifeless body slump to the ground. Luke opened his eyes and kneeled down next to his uncle not caring about the smell anymore.

Luke shakily touched his uncle's arm before bowing his head and sobbing out the words.

"I'm…so…so..sorry" he managed to choke out between his sobs. Luke stood bowed over his uncle's dead body a few more moments before wiping his tears from his face and closing his uncle's eyelids.

Getting up Luke stepped around his uncle and walked back up the stairs. Taking a deep breath Luke pressed the door release button.

Luke peered into the dark room and saw his aunt huddled in the back of the room.

"Aunt Beru?"

Beru looked up to see her nephew at the door

"Luke" she sobbed

Luke ran over to her and hugged her burying his head in her shoulder, relieved that she was ok. Beru continued to sob into Luke's shoulder telling him about what happened and how Uncle Owen had changed. Suddenly bringing up Owen Beru shot her head up and stared at the door.

"Where is he" she said quietly

Luke looked at her tears in his eyes

"He, he's go…gone" Luke said

Beru looked at him realizing what he meant, and grabbed him into another hug.

"I'm so sorry Luke that you had to go through this" Beru was telling him like she was the one who had been behind the whole ordeal.

Luke just stayed silent feeling extremely guilty for doing what he did. Releasing himself from his aunt's grasp he got to his feet and offered his hand to his aunt. His aunt smiled at him and stretched her arm out. Taking her hand and helping her to her feet Luke noticed a gruesome looking tear into his aunt's wrist.

Still holding his aunts hand Luke looked up into his aunt's face

"How did this happen?" Luke asked concern in his voice

Beru gently took her hand away from her nephew

"It's just a scratch, I don't know how I got it" Beru said staring at her wrist

"It looks a lot worse though" she muttered to herself. The small scratch that she had before was now a lot deeper than it had been, in fact it was still bleeding, and the edges of the gash were a deep reddish purple color.

Beru looked back to Luke

"I better get a bacta patch"

Luke gave her a small smile before leading her out the door.

…...

The twin suns beat down on the two standing outside of the homestead.

Luke and his aunt had stood over Owens and the other mans graves. Saying a few words to the man they did not know and then to Owen.

Luke had stood silently at his uncle's grave listening to his aunt talk about how much she missed him and how much she adored him when he was alive. His aunt was about to say more before she started to sob again.

"What is happening, Luke?" she questioned him

Luke didn't know what to say because he didn't know what was happening instead he just stared ahead at his uncle's grave.

His aunt looked back at the grave before collapsing over and falling to the ground.

"Aunt Beru!" Luke yelled kneeling down and grabbing his aunt's wrist.

To his horror Luke couldn't feel a pulse

"No, no, no, no…" this can't be happening Luke said to himself, not knowing what else to do Luke moved down closer to his aunt's face ready to give her CPR. When he heard her take in a breath Luke sighed in relief. Moving his head back to get a better look at her he frowned.

Beru's eyes fluttered open to reveal two dead orbs staring back at Luke. Beru reached out her arms in front of her trying to get a hold of him. Luke quickly moved out of the way shoving his aunt's hands away from him and getting to his feet. Luke backed away from his aunt.

"Aunt Beru? How?" he managed to say though he was shocked. She was just talking to him, standing next to him, crying with him.

Luke started to hyperventilate "I can't do this, I can't do this!"

Beru was walking toward him quicker now growling at him and reaching for him.

Luke backed away trying to control himself taking deep breaths as he did. Luke noticed the gash in his aunt's arm it was a lot bigger now, and grotesque.

Luke noticed he was backing himself up toward the homestead. Turning around he took off toward the front door sliding into the entrance way, Luke slipped down the stairs landing on his back knocking the wind out of him.

Luke lay at the bottom of the stairs trying to get in a breath. Getting up slowly Luke felt a shadow sweep over him. Looking up toward the doorway Luke saw his Aunt Beru walking down the stairs toward him. Luke grabbed his uncle's rifle that he left next to the kitchen and held it up pointing it at his aunt.

Luke stared at his aunt who was determinedly coming down the stairs toward him growling and barring her teeth at him.

Luke had backed himself up to the wall his aunt had made it to the bottom of the stairs and was feet away from him.

Luke's rifle was aimed at her head but he couldn't shoot. His aunt had grabbed his arms and was pulling him closer snapping her jaws at him.

Luke stared at his aunt through tear filled eyes; putting his hand over the trigger shakily Luke pulled the trigger blowing a large hole through his aunt's head. His aunt slumped to the ground. Luke sank down next to her; putting his hand on her head he brushed back her hair from her eyes. Closing her lids Luke bowed his head and sobbed for his aunt.


	4. Chapter 4

In his dream he was a zombie and he had killed his aunt and uncle, but in reality he was fine and his aunt and uncle were the zombies, but he had still killed them, even if it was self defense.

Luke had buried his aunt alongside his uncle hours ago and yet he couldn't move from that spot. The twin suns were setting sending an eerie shadow across the stone markers that Luke had made for his aunt and uncle's graves. A slight breeze blew Luke's hair in and out of his face.

Luke sat with his head bowed wondering how this had happened? How did his aunt become one of those things? She wasn't bitten like his uncle, but she had a huge gash on her arm, was it from a scratch? But he had gotten a scratch well before she had and he felt fine, his scratch had healed.

Luke looked back at the graves and took a deep breath tears stinging at his eyes he decided that he needed to say something to his aunt and uncle who had raised him and cared for him since he could remember.

Luke took another breath staring back at the two graves Luke began.

"I don't know why this happened, I wish that it hadn't" pausing for a moment to contain his shaky voice Luke continued " I'm sorry that I wasn't all that you wanted in a nephew, I'm sorry that I was reckless and always made you worry….., I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me" Luke let out a small sob but continued "I'm so, so sorry….…..I know I gave you a rough time always wanting to leave this farm, wanting something different an adventure and I…I felt that you were trying to hold me back" Luke let out another sob before continuing "You did it out of love, I know that now."

Luke stood up and stared at the twin suns setting, looking back at the graves Luke closed his eyes tears sliding down his cheeks.

"I love you…..and I miss you" Luke let out another sob, tears continued to run down his cheeks, Luke didn't want to say good bye, he wasn't ready for this, he needed his aunt and uncle.

Why did this happen? His aunt and uncle were good people; they didn't deserve to die like this Luke thought angrily.

Kicking the sand Luke turned away from his family's graves angry tears sliding down his cheeks as he stared at the homestead feeling a chill run down his spine. He didn't want to go back in there. There were too many bad memories. He couldn't stay outside though, who knows if there were more of those things roaming the wasteland.

Wiping tears from his face Luke made up his mind and turned to look one last time at his aunt and uncle's graves. Something caught his eye in the distance; it was a couple of small moving shapes far off in the never-ending sandy desert. Running over to the parked speeder Luke grabbed the binoculars.

Looking through them Luke could make out two people roaming toward the homestead, he couldn't figure out if they were human or zombie.

"Kriff" Luke muttered to himself, putting the binoculars over his head and around his neck he headed down into the homestead deciding it best that he gather what he needed to survive now in case his visitors were the biting kind. Wandering down the stairs Luke wondered if his friends were dealing with the same thing.

…

Luke had gathered a few changes of clothes, water, food, a blanket and the rifle charger. Walking out of his room Luke passed through the kitchen quickly avoiding the stained ground and stood in the hallway to his aunt and uncle's room. Taking a deep breath Luke walked down the hallway and slowly into their bedroom. Heading over to the dresser Luke opened the drawer and grabbed the taped envelope that was hidden above the drawer. His aunt and uncle had told him where they stored the extra credits in case he ever needed it for emergencies.

Luke held the envelope feeling very alone.

"I guess this is an emergency" he said to no one putting the credits in his sack full of survival gear.

Luke walked out of the homestead and put the sack in the speeder. It was dark now but Luke could see fairly well the two moons were both full and high in the sky. Bringing the binoculars closer to his face Luke could see the two figures were a lot closer now; they would probably make it to the farm soon. Luke squinted his eyes to take a better look, he could barely get a good look at their faces because of the darkness and distance but he could tell something was wrong with them. They seemed to be dragging themselves instead of walking upright. Lowering his binoculars Luke decided that he would sleep in the garage tonight. He was nervous to sleep in his room after what had happened this morning. He was also worried that the zombies would just jump down into his homes open area. He didn't want that kind of surprise.

Luke opened up the garage door and drove his speeder inside, not wanting to risk his supplies being stolen. Closing the garage door, Luke took one last walk back into the homestead so he could grab his pillow and a couple more blankets to make the garage floor more welcoming to sleep on.

…

Luke had just got back into the garage and had closed the door when he heard the perimeter alarm go off. Luke stood frozen in place his heart pounding in his chest. Those things were close now, they were in the perimeter. Luke took a breath and moved to the farthest wall finding a couple of crates Luke made himself stairs climbing up them he grabbed his binoculars and squinted through them looking out the small rectangular window carved in the wall. Luke could see the figures clearer now. Their wasn't just two anymore there were three. A female and two males, looking at the figures intently Luke could tell that they were definitely not alive anymore. The woman had a huge part of her neck torn off and one of the males face was half torn off. Looking for the third male Luke noticed that the third had a very nasty bite mark on his arm. Moving his way up the arm and to the face Luke gasped almost dropping the binoculars.

"Windy" Luke whispered

Luke lowered himself off of the crates jumping down to the ground he slowly walked to the other side of the room Luke punched in the perimeter codes and the alarm stopped. Luke just stood there staring at the wall, shocked that his good friend Windy was one of those things now, a zombie.

It was too weird to think about zombies? His aunt and uncle and now his friend Windy, what was going on? Who else was infected? Was he alone? Luke didn't want to think about it anymore turning away from the wall he numbly made his bed on the garage floor hoping that the zombies would not bother him tonight and that he could get some sleep.

…

Luke awoke to the sound of moaning outside of the garage, snapping his eyes open Luke noticed that it was morning, quietly getting out of bed he crept to the small window in the wall. Cautiously climbing the crates Luke slowly peeked through the window. He could see one of the zombies standing on the side of his house, another one was roaming in front of the house. Luke couldn't see where the third one was, searching intently Luke almost screamed when he turned to his left and saw Windy standing outside of the garage door looking at him. Quickly ducking down from the window, he held his breath hoping that he wasn't seen. Several minutes went by and Luke had started to breathe easy again. Letting out a breath Luke got back to his feet and quietly gathered up his sleeping gear and put it in the speeder. Grabbing out a ration bar, Luke nibbled on it while he thought about getting out of the garage and making it to the spaceport in Mos Eisley in one piece. Spotting a droid behind the speeder he had been building the day before, Luke smiled to himself an idea had blossomed.

Luke had made sure that the zombies were not near the garage door before he quickly pressed the door release button. The droid rolled out. Quickly closing the door behind the droid, Luke jogged quietly over to the window and peered out.

The little droid rolled out in front of the garage and toward the house. The zombies distracted from the droid curiously watched it roll in front of the house.

The zombie that was near the garage door stared at the robot intently eyes away from the door.

Luke quickly jumped down from the crates, pressing the door release button he ran over to the speeder jumping in and starting it up, Luke sped through the door in time to see Windy turn around and come towards him.

Shooting past Windy his friend, Luke couldn't help but stare at him as he did.

"I'm so sorry Windy" Luke whispered as he sped away into the open desert.

Glancing over his shoulder he could still see his aunt and uncles resting places getting smaller and smaller.

Luke had left them behind, on the farm that they loved, and part of him was left with them. A tear rolled down his cheek the hot wind drying them quickly away as he sped further and further away from the only home he had known.

…

Luke had been driving through the desert not long before he saw a small figure up ahead stumbling away from something.

Luke couldn't make it out right away, slowing down his speeder Luke parked it behind a large boulder leaping out of the speeder he grabbed his rifle and binoculars.

Peering through them Luke could clearly see that it was a young woman who was being attacked by a dead Tuskan Raider. Immediately Luke raised his rifle aiming for the dead's head he shot killing the thing once more.

The dead fell on top of the woman pinning her down. Luke jumped back into his speeder and sped over to the woman jumping out of the speeder he walked cautiously over to the woman. The woman was moving under the dead Tuskan. Luke bent down and gently rolled the dead off of her and gasped the woman who he had just saved held a sharp knife to his throat.

"Don't move" she said simply

Getting to her feet carefully her knife still at his throat Luke stood kneeling on the ground.

"Give me your rifle" she demanded

Luke hesitated earning himself the knife's tip piercing into his skin. Luke winced biting his lip he slowly held out his rifle to her. He could feel warm blood beginning to fall where the woman had pierced him.

The woman reached for the rifle noticing the long scar on his arm grabbing the rifle the woman put her knife away quickly and aimed the rifle back at the boy that had saved her.

Luke slowly started to move his arm back down when she grabbed his wrist. Turning it over she stared at it then back down at Luke.

"What is this from?"

Luke stared up at her confusion written on his face not quite sure what she was talking about, and then he noticed her intently looking at his recent scar.

Luke didn't want to tell her the truth he was afraid she would blast him, so instead he chose to lie.

"Fr…from a farming accident" he stuttered out

The woman stared down at him curiously then back at the recent scar.

"I don't believe you" she hissed

Luke looked up at her and glared

"Why?"

She tilted her head and smirked down at him

"This" she stared over at the dead tuskan raider "has been going on for a week, unless you live way out in the desert, you must have crossed a stench, plus" she indicated to the lines around the scar "You recently had a bacta patch on"

Luke stared up at her curiously a stench? A week?

"What? A week? I was just attacked yesterday" he said quietly and mainly to himself

The woman leaned down to hear him

"So, where did you get it?" she asked again threatening him with the rifle

Deciding it didn't matter anymore Luke decided to tell her the truth she seemed to be a human lie detector anyway.

"I was attacked by a zom…a stench as you call it, it scratched me" he looked down at his arm then back up into the barrel of the rifle.

"When?" she hissed again

"Yes…yesterday" Luke whispered remembering the past events.

"My aunt was scratched as well, but…sh…she turned" he stared up into the barrel again tears stinging at his eyes.

The woman looked down at him curiously then lowered her rifle slightly

"Turn around" she ordered

Luke slowly turned around on his knees

"Hands behind your back" she hissed behind him

Luke did as he was told

The woman quickly grabbed some rope out of her bag and tied Luke's wrists tightly together

"Get up and get in front of me" she ordered again pointing the rifle in Luke's back

Luke got up and walked in front of her heading toward his speeder, Luke cursed himself he should have left his speeder hidden behind the large boulder, now how was he going to escape?

They made it to the speeder she jumped into the driver's seat and waited till Luke awkwardly got into the speeders passenger side. Putting the rifle in the back along with her bag she stared over at Luke and smiled.

"Thanks for saving me"

Luke stared at her mouth half open, not knowing what to say. Instead he decided not to say anything closing his mouth he turned to look in front of him. The woman laughed to herself started the speeder and sped back into the desert where she had come from.


	5. Chapter 5

They didn't travel long until they approached a small camp nestled along the canyon wall. The sun had already set by the time they got to the camp; a small campfire was seen in the distance surrounded by a dozen people. Slowing down the speeder the woman stopped in front of the group of people huddled around the small fire.

Luke peered over at them he noticed most of them were adults, but could see two little girls as well. The group hearing the speeder approach stared over at the new arrivals.

"Mommy!" the two little girls squealed as they ran over to the speeder, noticing Luke they suddenly stopped clearly shy.

The woman who they had referred to as mother came over to them and whispered to them. Luke couldn't hear what they were saying, but figured she was telling them to go sit down at the fire, because that's what they did.

The woman then went over and talked to a couple of the men who nodded and walked over to Luke.

Luke didn't know what to expect he tensed as they neared him though. Without saying a word the two men grabbed him out of the speeder roughly making Luke cry out in protest. His arm was still sore from being dislocated earlier. They held onto both of his arms and pushed him toward the fire. Pushing him down on his knees, he stood in front of the group, fear kept his gaze to the ground.

He could hear the people murmuring and whispering around him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying, getting irritated the fear left him quickly and he stared over at the woman who had captured him.

"This is how you treat people who save you?" he asked through clenched teeth.

The woman just smiled down at him.

"I could have handled it myself" she sneered

"Right, that's why you were screaming for help?" Luke replied back a look of amusement on his face.

The woman stormed over to Luke and smacked him hard across the face. The impact made Luke flinch to his left, his cheek stinging. Looking back up at the woman Luke glared at her.

"What do you want?" he asked shaking with anger.

The woman was about to reply when she was interrupted by one of the guys that was around the fire.

"Luke? Is that you?" asked a familiar voice.

Luke looked up to see his friend Fixer standing off to his right near the fire. He wondered why he hadn't seen him until now, shaking his head to get back to the present Luke looked Fixer over.

"Fixer?"

The man smiled at him

"Luke it is you!" he beamed as he ran over to Luke before he was rudely pushed back by one of the guys that kept him on his knees.

"Hey! I know this guy!" Fixer said pushing the guys arm out of his way.

"Yeah well we don't know him" the other guy sneered. The woman who had captured him nodded her head in reply.

Fixer looked over at her.

"I know Luke he's a good guy, the nicest guy I know, and he saved you!"

The woman looked over at Fixer than down at Luke.

"He did but there's something else you need to know" Looking down at Luke she sighed.

"He was scratched by one of those things"

The group gasped in shock, Luke bowed his head in shame.

Fixer looked down at Luke.

"Is that true?"

Luke nodded yes in reply.

"Kill him!" someone blurted out

Some of the group agreed with him, while others didn't say anything.

"Why did you bring him here then?" one of the only other females besides the two little girls asked.

The woman took a deep breath and told them what Luke had told her earlier, to show them that what she was saying was the truth she slammed Luke facedown into the sand and moved his sleeve up to show the group the healed scratch. Luke gritted his teeth and struggled for a moment before calming down realizing that he was not going to be hurt.

"See" the woman replied

The group had now surrounded Luke looking at his healed wound, gasps of disbelief surrounded him. Tired of being on the ground Luke tried to get up but was pushed back down hard by one of the guys who were holding him.

"Get off!" Luke almost yelled. He was angry and confused, why was he here anyway? He was on his way to the spaceport. Now he bitterly thought that he shouldn't have saved the woman after all. He was then grabbed back up and into a standing position. He had tuned out his captors so he had no idea what they were talking about. All he knew was that he was being pushed forward toward a tent.

He could see Fixer on the side of him.

"Fix what's going to happen to me?" he asked quietly.

"Shut up kid" one of the guys said as they opened up the tent and moved him into the center where a large metal pole was seen, they pushed him down and tied him to the pole.

"What's going on?" Luke looked back at Fixer who only shook his head, before walking out of the tent he turned back to Luke.

"I'm sorry Luke" then he walked out of the tent.

Luke looked after him confused. Why was he sorry? Were they going to kill him?

Luke looked up to see the woman he had saved earlier squatting down next to him. Luke glared at her and she just smiled at him.

"Why are you doing this?"

The woman shrugged

"We have to be sure"

Luke looked at her curiously

"Sure?"

"That you are not infected"

"But I'm not! I already told yo…" Luke was cut off the woman had signaled one of the guys to gag Luke. After he was gagged he just glared at the woman in front of him.

The woman gave him a small smile, she reached out and brushed Luke's hair from his eyes, Luke flinched away from her. She lowered her hand and stood up from her kneeling position.

"I'm sorry kid, but we have to make sure that you are really not infected….you see sometimes it takes more than a day to turn" she paused a moment a tear sliding down her cheek "my husband he..he was scratched a week ago..just a small scratch on his hand….took him two days to tu..turn" she finally finished.

Luke looked up at her, wanting to still hate her but now things were different she had lost loved ones as well. Thinking of loved ones, he started to think about his Aunt and Uncle Tears welled up in his eyes. Blinking the tears rolled down his cheeks, feeling embarrassed at his sudden tearful state Luke tried to brush his cheeks against his shoulders, but because of his awkward position he had only managed the bottom of his chin to dry.

The woman had noticed the tears and immediately knelt back down to brush them off of Luke's cheeks. Luke didn't flinch this time, he just stared at her.

She smiled at him wiping her own tears away.

"I am truly sorry, that we have to do this" she continued standing back up she stared down at Luke.

"I hope that we are wrong about this and that you are ok" she said before motioning for the others to follow her out of the tent.

They took the only light that was in the tent leaving him in utter darkness. Luke tried to get in a comfortable position but found that they had tied him tightly to the pole, he stopped struggling leaning back against the pole, Luke exhausted closed his eyes and drifted off to a restless sleep.

Throughout the night the survivors slept in their own tents wondering if their prisoner would in fact turn into a stench.

Luke awoke to whispers outside of the tent, opening his eyes he noticed that it was daylight, now he could see clearly. Looking around his surroundings Luke noticed boxes full of food and other supplies to his right on his left a small cot.

The tent door was pushed open and the woman from yesterday stepped in followed by the other two guys that had held him down last night. Luke looked up at them, hoping that they could tell that he hadn't changed at least he didn't feel any different.

Just as though they had heard his thoughts one of the guys spoke.

"He didn't turn?" he said questioningly

The other guy just stared at Luke with a dumb founded look on his face.

The woman looked down at Luke staring at him hard she moved closer making Luke flinch.

She didn't care though she took the gag out of Luke's mouth. Relieved Luke licked his dry lips then looked back up at the woman.

"I didn't turn, can you please cut me loose?"

"I don't know" the guy who had been gaping at him finally voiced

"How do we know that he won't tell others about us?"

"I won't" Luke pleaded "I don't even know if anyone else is alive!"

The woman turned to the other two.

"He doesn't know about the outside, he was on a farm the entire time this incident happened" turning back to face Luke she added "he lost his Aunt and Uncle, he…lost someone like we all have" turning back to the two "We can trust him, he may be our only hope" she trailed off. The one who had first voiced his opinions nodded while the other stared down at Luke unsurely not saying another word.

Taking that as a yes the woman took out a knife and undid the rope that kept Luke tied to the pole going around him she also cut off the rope that had bound his hands together. Luke stood up and rubbed his aching wrists. He was stiff and sore probably from the awkward position he had slept in the entire night stretching his arms above his head he sighed in relief it had felt good, even the slight pain in his shoulder felt good to stretch. Looking back at the three who just stared at him Luke awkwardly extended his hand out to them.

"Well um…My name's Luke" the one who had spoken first grabbed his hand with his firmly shaking it a broad smile appearing on his face.

"Blake, nice to meet you, no hard feelings right?" he said

Luke raised an eyebrow but gave him a smile "right" he replied

The other man still looked at him coldly, not bothering to shake Luke's hand he folded his arms across his chest.

"The names Griff"

"Nice to meet you" Luke murmured not feeling very comfortable around Griff.

Turning toward the woman who had captured him yesterday Luke nervously extended his hand to her. The woman gently grabbed his hand and shook it smiling at him.

"Joan" she said "It's nice to actually meet you, well formally anyway, sorry about earlier, just a precaution I have daughters to care for"

Luke gave her a genuine smile.

"I understand"

She smiled again at him before letting go of his hand.

"Well come on you have to meet the rest of the gang" she said motioning him to follow her out of the tents door.

He followed her out into the sunlight. The Tatooine suns were already starting to heat up the morning, it was going to be an extremely hot day. Luke almost bumped into Joan who had stopped abruptly in front of him.

"Hey, attention!" Joan yelled over the murmuring crowd before her. Now all eyes were on Luke. Luke felt himself flush the sudden attention making him nervous. Joan had moved to the side of Luke, now he had a better look at the people in his group. He noticed the two little girls from earlier and a couple of different humans, he also noticed a couple of humanoids in the group as well one a twi'lek and the other he didn't know what kind of species it was but it was blue with red eyes. Luke felt someone nudge him in the shoulder noticing it was Joan. Luke remembered he was supposed to introduce himself.

"Hi I'm Luke" he said

There was more whispers making Luke blush again at being the center of attention finally Joan's two little girls walked up to him both had grins on their faces.

"I'm Ramie and this is Liz" the older one said motioning to her little sister

"How old are you?" the little one asked blushing

Luke was about to answer when Joan cut him off

"You don't have to answer that Luke" she said shuffling her girls away, before they were gone Luke heard one of them say that he was cute. Luke smiled at that then turned to the rest of the group who introduced themselves to him.

Fixer walked out of a tent to Luke's right a giant smile on his face.

"Luke, unbelievable"

Luke turned toward Fixer and smiled at him as Fixer clapped him on the back.

"Who would think" Fixer said shaking his head "You're the cure!"

Luke confused looked up at Fixer "the cure?"

"Yeah the cure, you were scratched by a stench and you didn't turn" Fixer said clapping Luke on the back again.

"Um...I guess" Luke was confused surely he wasn't the only one who was immune?

"Whatever, come on let me show you the camp" Fixer led Luke around the camp showing him there supplies and told him all that had happened since the outbreak.

Luke sat next to Fixer in silence he had learned that Camie, Tank and Deak had been killed the first day it had happened and that Fixer had survived by hiding on the roof for the first day before gunning it to Windy's farm where he found no Windy and ran into Joan and her two children, who had lived at a neighboring farm. They had met the others a day later when they had reentered Anchorhead for supplies.

Looking at Fixer Luke frowned.

"I saw Windy and his family, he was a stench, they were all stenches" he said quietly

Fixer looked down at the ground

"I figured as much"

He missed Biggs terribly but he was truly glad that he wasn't here. He sighed it was weird having a nice conversation with Fixer, not that they didn't get along well not all the time anyway. They had a lot of disagreements, they had even fought before. Biggs had been the one to introduce him to Fixer, Tank, and Deak. They were all three years older than him and he was much smaller, they often called him Wormie a name he detested, except for Biggs. He was relieved when Fixer hadn't called him by his nickname and was curious as to why, but didn't want to ask afraid that it would be an invitation so instead he brought up Biggs.

"I'm glad Biggs is at the academy" Luke said

"Yeah" Fixer agreed

"What of his family?" Luke asked looking at Fixer

"Don't know didn't have time to check, everything happened so fast"

Luke nodded in understanding

"You think it's happening everywhere?" Luke asked

Fixer shook his head "I don't know Luke, I don't know"


End file.
